Laurie Van Egeren, interim associate provost for university outreach and engagement at Michigan State University, will be the next president of the Engagement Scholarship Consortium. Her three-year term begins in October. Dr. Van Egeren will be the first woman to lead the organization.
The Engagement Scholarship Consortium is an international academic association that focuses on the advancement of scholarship-based university-community engagement as part of a continuing dialogue on the nature of knowledge and the role of academic institutions in society. It is comprised of 41 member universities across the United States and one international member.
Dr. Van Egeren conducts research focusing on state evaluations of afterschool programs and childcare consultation programs; early childhood science education; youth-driven spaces; parent programs for children diagnosed with autism; and programs to increase STEM college entry among African American students. She also serves on the leadership team of the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Advancing Research Impacts in Society and the Executive Committee of the Commission for Economic and Community Engagement of the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities.
In accepting the appointment, Dr. Van Egeren stated that “engaged scholarship emerges from close, reciprocal partnerships between communities and higher education collaborators. What could be more important than integrating scientific knowledge with community knowledge to create meaningful impacts that make a difference for people, the environment, and society? I’m thrilled to work with this esteemed group of colleagues and institutions to advance ways to bridge differences among disciplines and among ways of knowing, and to address the institutional and systemic challenges that can get in the way of making transformational change.”
Dr. Van Egeren is also an adjunct faculty member in the department of human development and family studies and has served as acting director of the Michigan State University Museum. She holds a master’s degree in clinical child/family psychology and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Michigan State University.